Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Last week, on my way in to celebrate Bob Tupper's 15,000th beer, I encountered Start Loving. He was huddled in front of the Sudanese Embassy and had just begun his hunger strike in protest of the ongoing massacres in Darfur. Read his blog: Stand With Darfur.

I spoke briefly with him: how more courageous a man he was than I.

Did I then continue onto the beer tasting? Yes. Did I contribute to Children's Hospital? Yes. Did I feel better for it? Yes. Was that, in any manner, enough? No.Likewise, Monday evening I participated in Sweet Charity, a gala to raise funds against illiteracy. Beautiful people, spectacular desserts, Clipper City beers - but again an emotional disconnect, juxtaposed with the grotesque events at Virgina Tech earlier that day.

I have to believe that there are a lot of courageous people in the world, that there are occasional moments of goodness. To not believe is to surrender. Easy words, exigent course.

A memorial fund has been created to provide assistance to the victims' families and to create a memorial.